shed wars

The boys think the little shed is theirs. They have plans for a workbench, model aeroplanes, posters of cars and other "boys stuff". They are so wrong.  Having painted the most (I did the green exterior, red shelf, blue sky ceiling with clouds, OH did a bit of interior white washing) I am staking my claim but will relinquish it for a bit more help in getting the big shed to look just as nice. 

PAH - run out of lino

I'm eagerly waiting the postman for a fresh supply of lino. In the meantime here is my simplified sketch for the planned goldfinch print.  

small quiet creatures

We have found some wonderful life in our garden and on our walks and I itch to use their patterns and shapes in new work. I love the strikingly geometric grasshopper, like a moving blueprint of some complex mechanical contraption. The caterpillar of The Cinnabar moth is ingeniously camouflaged amongst the ragwort flowers but his yellow and black stripes remind me of some outlandish theatre pantaloons. But my favourite is the Gatekeeper, a modest little butterfly with a name that sums up his habit of lingering around the brambles and nettles that frame the garden gates and line the country lanes here. At the moment I am working up some sketches of the pair of goldfinches that seem to monopolise the bird feeder. More soon...     

a very short film for monday - barley sea

Quite hypnotic ...

Sisal people

A ball of thick sisal twine found its way into the house yesterday and was sitting there begging to be used. This was the best me and the 4yr old could come up with, two sisal people dangling in the apple tree, one's me the other is him. The only similarity I have to sisal me is the unruly hair.

Folksy Friday - Fabulous Fields

A small celebration of the July countryside

All of these wonderful handcrafted items are available to buy on Folksy.

 top row left to right:

Garden Hue by Tutt Tutt / Sea to Sun Stained Glass Panel by Diomo Glass/

Cornflower Brooch by Lynwoodcrafts

bottom row left to right:

Lavender Coasters by Glass Inferno/ Rapeseed - sterling silver and merino wool felt necklace 

by Close your eyes hold out your hands//Making Hay 055 by Zebedee

Fields

I am pleased as punch to find myself living right next to fields of barley and wheat. Not just for the pleasing view of crops waving gently in the wind, the low swoop of the house martins and the occasional croak from an unseen pheasant, but because it means I can watch the crops turn slowly from green to gold. At this point I should confess to a professional interest in the ripening of crops. Most of my days are spent poring over aerial photographs looking for evidence of long buried archaeological remains, which sometimes show themselves as variations in the ripening crops. Click here to see some stunning crop marks .

So to celebrate the “crop mark season”, tomorrow’s Folksy Friday on this blog will have a crop and field theme.